Wireless communication networks may deploy base stations to support or service small cells to address capacity issues associated with high density user equipment (UE) scenarios. High geometry or signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for UEs receiving downlink transmissions from small cell base stations may allow for higher order modulation schemes. These higher order modulation schemes may be higher than a typical peak of 64 quadrature amplitude modulation or 64QAM. A 64QAM may be set as a peak for physical multicast channel (PMCH) transmissions carrying a multicast traffic channel (MTCH) between a base station and one or more UEs.